Goldschmidt homers in return to Arizona as Cards win

Paul Goldschmidt had two hits including his 32nd homer in his return to Arizona and Yadier Molina homered and drove in four runs in the St. Louis Cardinals' 9-7 victory over the Diamondbacks on Monday in Phoenix. Tommy Edman had two hits, including a home run, and Harrison Bader also homered for the Cardinals (90-67), who moved 3 1/2 games ahead of the Milwaukee Brewers in the NL Central with five games remaining. The loss eliminated Arizona from wild-card contention.

Christian Walker had three hits including his 27th homer, Josh Rojas had two hits, and Nick Ahmed homered for the Diamondbacks (80-77). Walker took over at first base this season for Goldschmidt, who was a fixture in his eight seasons in Arizona. The Diamondbacks played a video tribute of Goldschmidt before the game, his first at Chase Field after being traded last winter, and he received a standing ovation in his first plate appearance.

St. Louis right-hander Adam Wainwright (14-9) won his fifth straight September start, giving up eight hits and five runs in five innings with six strikeouts and two walks. He had given up only one earned run in four previous September starts, and his ERA for the month is 1.69. Carlos Martinez entered after Ahmed homered and Carson Kelly drew a walk against John Brebbia in the ninth. Martinez gave up an RBI double to Josh Rojas before finished up for his 24th save.

Marcell Ozuna had two doubles and Goldschmidt and Edman scored three times. Edman hit his 11th homer of the season with one out in the first inning before Goldschmidt walked, Ozuna doubled and Molina hit an RBI groundout for a 2-0 lead.

Adam Jones followed singles by Walker and Jake Lamb with an RBI single to make it 2-1 in the second inning. Edman was hit by a pitch leading off the third inning, and Goldschmidt homered to right-center field for a 4-1 lead, becoming the first player to hit 100 homers at Chase Field.

Walker homered in the fourth inning to make it 4-2, before Molina's two-run shot in the fifth gave the Cardinals a 6-2 lead. Rojas, Eduardo Escobar and Walker had run-scoring singles in the last of the fifth to make it 6-5, and Bader's solo shot in the eighth made it 7-5.

Arizona left-hander Alex Young (7-5) gave up seven hits and six runs in five innings, with five strikeouts and two walks.